Casting bobber



March 11, 1969 ORENICK ET AL I 3,431,671

CASTING BOBBER Filed Aug. 9, 1967 INVENTORS. EM/L. H. OPEN/CK EM/L J. OPEN/CK Fig. 5 22 4 51 ATTOIZNEY.

United States Patent 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A casting bobber for fishlines is fabricated in two sections searably joined in watertight engagement to provide a compartment for holding ballast, when desired. One of said sections has an integrally formed and hinged fishline engaging means, including a seat portion with a slot therein and a latch portion hinged at one edge of the seat portion and having a rib thereon to engage the slot. The latch portion also has means on the side opposite the hinge to releasa'bly engage said one section in a clamping arrangement. The bobber may be either immovably attached to the fishline, or frictionally engaged therewith for slidable adjustment between various positions.

This invention relates to fishing and particularly to a plastic bobber having fishline gripping means, formed integral therewith, for selectively engaging the line for free sliding or fixed attachment thereto.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a fishline casting bobber comprising only two mating parts that may be easily interlocked, without tools, to provide a hollow float chamber that may be weighted with water when additional weight for casting through the air is desirable.

Another object is to provide a two-piece casting bobber, of the type stated, having fishline gripper means, formed integral therewith, capable of selectively engaging a fishline for either fixed or slidable attachment thereto.

A further object is to provide a fishline casting bobber of the type stated fabricated from a plastic material combining high flexibility and impact strength.

Still another object is to provide a rugged molded plastic casting bobber that is inexpensive to manufacture, requiring no assembly time or skill, since the two elements forming the bobber need only be snapped together after the molding operation is completed, to form the finished product.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and claim, together with the accompanying drawing, wherein like parts are referred to and indicated by like reference numeral, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the Casting Bobber that is the subject of this invention, showing it in fixed position on a fishline;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical section view of the same, taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the fishline gripper means;

FIGURE 4 is a left side view of the structure shown in FIGURE 1; and,

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the gripper means, showing it in its open condition, with a fishline positioned thereacross in alternate fixed or sliding mounting positions.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is seen in FIGURE 1 the casting bobber, that is the subject of the invention, broadly indicated by reference numeral 10, showing it in fixed engagement with a fishline 24 hav- 3,431,671 Patented Mar. 11, 1969 ing a fishhook 25 attached to its extreme end below the bobber 10.

The bobber 10 is preferably fabricated from a plastic compound combining both high impact strength and flexibility, such as polypropylene, since such a bobber often strikes stones or rocks during casting operations, as well as requiring innumerable flexions of its clamping cap 18, during its long life, while being attached and detached from the fishline, as explained hereinafter.

The bobber body 10 is made up of two mating hollow halves which are individually molded from polypropylene, as is well known by those skilled in the art.

As seen most clearly in FIGURE 2, the body halves 11 and 12 are joined in a watertight seal through mating and interlocking annular collars 13 and 14, to provide a sealed compartment 26 for air, water, or other ballast.

While the preferred body shape illustrated is that of an elongated ellipse, it maybe made egg-shaped or spherical in configuration.

As again seen in FIGURES 2 and 5, the end wall of the lower body half 12 is flattened to provide a square seat 15, with a tiltable cap, or clamp element 18, formed integral therewith, along one edge thereof, with the hinge crease 20 impressed along the junction of the clamp 18 and seat 15 to define a hinge line 20 for the clamp cap 18.

Since the clamp cap, hinge and seat, are all of a onepiece construction, the material out of which the bobber 10 is fabricated must be extremely flexible if the hinge 20 is not to break after a few hundred flexions of the cap 18.

Reference numeral 21 indicates a latch element, formed integral with the free edge of the clamp cap 18 opposite the hinge crease 20, which engages and interlocks with a mating latch element 17, formed integral with the edge of the seat 15 opposite the hinge 20, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4.

A finger grip 22 is positioned at the outer edge of the clamp cap 18, at the latch element 21, to aid in releasing the latch.

The seat 15 has an imperforate slot 16 centered therein, normal to the hinge 20, and spaced from both the hinge 20 and latch edge 17, as is seen in FIGURES 3 and 5.

As seen in FIGURE 3 the slot 16 does not penetrate the inner face of the seat 15, so that the body compartment 26 is water-tight.

The inner face 19 of the clamp cap 18 is flat, and adapted to rest snugly against the seat 15 when the clamp cap 18 is in its closed and latched position, as seen in FIGURE 2.

Reference numeral 23 indicates a dependent rib, formed integral with clamp cap 18, and of such a length and width as to nest in the seat slot 16 when the cap 18 is locked against the seat 15, as seen most clearly in FIGURE 2.

The clamp cap 18 is swingable on the hinge 20 between a first, open position, as seen in FIGURE 3, wherein the clamp cap 18 and rib 23 are tilted away from the seat and seat slot 15 and 16, respectively; and a. second, latched position, as seen in FIGURE 2, wherein in the clamp cap 18 is locked against the seat 15 with its rib 23 nested in the seat slot 16.

To secure the bobber 10 immovably to the fishline 24 the clamp cap 18 is tilted to its first, open position and the fishline 24 is laid across the seat slot 16, as seen in FIGURE 5. The clamp cap 18 is then swung to its second, latched position, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, causing the rib 23 to clamp the fishline into the seat slot 16, thereby locking the bobber 10 imnrovably on the fishline.

Again, referring to FIGURE 5, if the fishline, now indicated by reference numeral 24A, is laid along the hinge groove 20 and the clamp cap 18 latched in its 3 second position, the rib 23 does not touch the fishline 24A, which leaves the bobber 10 free to be pulled along the fishline 24A, between adjusted positions, whereat it is held by friction.

The compartment 26, of the so attached bobber can be Weighted, if necessary for more accurate casting control, by pulling the body halves 11 and 12 apart, filling the compartment with the required ballast, and then rejoining the halves by interfitting their interlocking collars 13 and 14.

As stated hereinbefore, the bobber just described is made up of only two mating pieces, the body halves 11 and 12, with the clamping elements cast integral with the body half 12, so that there are not multiplicity of parts that must be assembled to form the finished casting bobber, nor are there any part to loosen, or become lost, during the life of the bobber.

It will now be clear that there has been provided a device which accomplishes the objectives heretofore set forth.

While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred form, it is to be understood that the specific embodiment thereof as described and illustrated herein is not to be considered in a limited sense, as there may be other forms or modifications of the invention.

We claim:

1. A casting bobber for fishlines, comprising:

(a) a hollow, watertight, plastic body formed of two separable sections joined through interlocking annular collars;

(b) a flattened area on the outer surface of one of said sections, including an imperforate slot centered therein, said area defining a fishline engaging seat;

() a fishline clamp formed integral with said one section along one edge of the seat, having a flat seat engaging inner face with a dependent rib centered thereon, of a width and length adapted to nest in the seat slot;

(d) said clamp having a crease impressed along its junction with said one section, at the seat, to define a hinge line; and,

(e) latch means formed integral with the clamp at its edge opposite the hinge, engageable with a mating latch means formed integral with said one section at the edge of the seat opposite the clamp hinge;

(f) said clamp being swingable between 'a first, open position wherein the clamp and rib are tilted away from the seat and seat slot, and a second, latched position wherein the clamp is locked against the seat with its rib nested in the seat slot;

(g) the bobber body being immovably secured to the fishline when the fishline lies across th seat and seat slot, with the clamp locked thereagainst in its second position; the bobber body being slidable along the fishline, between adjusted positions, when the fishline is nested along the hinge line crease of the clamp, with the clamp locked in its second position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,818,871 l/1958 Beaudry 24259 X 3,019,546 2/1962. Hansen 4344.91 3,107,451 10/1963 Sitzler et al 4344.87 3,159,941 12/1964 Seymour 4343.14X 3,168,790 2/1965 Creasey 4344.88 X

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

JAMES H. CZERWONKY, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

